Combination refrigerator and space cooler



Dec. 21, 1954 H. L. WEISS 3 COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR AND SPACE COOLERFiled Nov. 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR He nary L. We 55 y 1IORNEY Dec. 21, 1954 COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR AND SPACE COOLER FiledNov. 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR M, .7 'ITURNEY H. L. WEISS97,333

United States Patent COIVIBINATION REFRIGERATOR SPACE COOLER Henry L.Weiss, Evansville, Ind. Application November 14, 1952,v Serial No.320,505 Claims. (Cl. 62-89) This invention relates toa novel combinationrefrigerator and space cooler weather conditions not only forrefrigerating food and liquids but additionally for cooling an enclosureor a portion of an enclosure in which the refrigerator is disposedthereby eliminating the need for a separate air conditioning units Aprimary object of the present invention is to provide a combinationrefrigerator and space cooler wherein the cooling unit of therefrigerator is utilized for cooling air propelled through a portion ofthe unit for cooling an enclosure space adjacent the refrigerator.

Another important object of they invention is to provide a combinationrefrigerator and space cooler where in the air expelled from the spacecooler for cooling an enclosure space around the refrigerator is chilledto a substantial extent by the frost accumulation on the cooling unit sothat the cooling unit is maintained defrosted by the space cooler andthe frost is utilized as an air cooler rather than being wasted, asconventionally occurs.

Still a further object of the invention is to provide a space coolingunit forming a part of a refrigerator including a fan or blowerremovably supported in a part of the refrigerator and which is readilyremovable therefrom when not in use to enable the refrigerator portion,utilized as an air cooler, to be conveniently closed and sealed.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafterbecome more fully apparent from the following description of thedrawings, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, andwherein:

Figure l is a front elevational view, partly broken away, illustratingthe front portion of the upper part of of the combination refrigeratorand space cooler;

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of, the upper portion ofthe unit taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 2-2of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a rear elevational view, partly in section and on a reducedscale, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 ofFigure 2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary vertical sectional views on enlargedscales, taken substantially along planes as indicated by the lines 5-5and 6-6, respectively, of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyalong a plane as indicated by the line 7-7 of Figure 2, and

Figure 8 is a plan view of one the space cooling unit.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the space cooler unit,designated generally 10 is illustrated as constituting the upper andspace cooler, a part only of the lower refrigerator portion 11 of whichis illustrated and which may be be of any conventional construction. Thespace cooler and refrigerator are enclosed by an insulated casing 12common to both structures. The front and rear walls of the upper casingunit portion, constituting a part of the cooling unit 10, are providedwith a front wall opening 13 and a rear wall opening 14. The front wallopening 13 is normally closed by a pair of hinged front doors 15 whichwhen swung outwardly to fully open positions, as illustrated in Figure1, completely expose adapted to be used under hot.

of the inner closures of part of a combination refrigerator 2,697,333 7Patented Dec. 21, 1954 2. the front opening 13. The rear opening 14 issimilarly closed, when the unit 10 is not in operation, by a P 0g hingedrear doors 16 whichcorrespond to the doors An inner door frame 17 has anouter flange 18 dis posed against the inner side of the front wall ofthe casing 12 around the front opening 13 and which is secured theretoby suitable fastenings 19 andsaid frame has an inwardly offset innerportion 20 to which an inner front door 21- isvswingably connected byhinges 22 along one side of the door 21. and frame portion. The door 211s d1sposed against the outer side of the inner frame portion 20 andcovers the opening defined ther by, when in a closed position, and iscapable of being swung on its hinges 22 to completely expose the openingof said door frame with a relatively large opening 23 containingmuntinsq24 and which 18 covered y mesh wire fabric 25- A f ame 26,corresponding to the frame the rear wall of the casing 12 on the innerside thereof and is secured thereto by fastenings 19a around the rearopening 14, A door 27, corresponding to the door" 21, 1S hingedlymounted on the outer side of theinwardly oifset inner portionv 20a ofthe frame 26 in the same manner asthe door 21 and is likewise swingableoutwardly to an open position. A refrigerator cooling unit of anyconventional type, designated generally 23, is supported in, the upperportion of the casing, 12 between the door frames 17 and 26 and thedoors 21 and 27 and constitutes the cooling unit for the bottomrefrigerator section 11 as well as for the space cooler 10.

A plate 29 is secured to the upper side of the top of the casing12adjacent the frontthercof and intermedlat of its sides and has a pin orstemextending upv wardly therefrom and which stem 30. is provided withan enlarged bottom portion 31 forming an upwardly facing shoulder.intermediate portion of the stem 30 and rests turnably upon the upwardlyfacing shoulder. defined by said enlarged bottom portion 31. The upperend 33 of the stem 30 is threaded to receive a nut 34. to retain the eye32 on the intermediate portion of the stem 30 and rotatably between theenlargement 31 and nut 34. The eye 32 has a stem or arm 35 projectingradially therefrom and. which is connected by a coupling 36 to one endof a rod 37 which extends rearwardly across the top of the casing 12 andto substantially beyond the rear wall thereof.

An intermediate portion of the rod 37. is swingably disposed between apair of rod elements 38 which are disposed above the casing 12 adjacentthe rear thereof and parallel to the front and rear of said casing andwhich rod elements 38 are supported at their ends by posts 39 which aresecured to and rise from base plates 40 which are secured to the top ofthe casing. The posts 39 limit swinging movement of the rod 37 and thelower row element 38 provides a support for the intermediate portion ofthe rod 37. hanger supporting slide, designated generally 41 and bestillustrated in Figure 6, includes an upper yoke portion 42 which fitsover and slidably engages onthe rod 37 rearwardly of the casing 12. Theslide 41 includes an upwardly opening socket 43 which is secured as bywelding, as indicated at 44, between the outwardly offset depending legs45 of the yoke 42. The upper part of a hanger rod 46 is turnablydisposed in and extends through an opening 47 in the bottom of thesocket 43 and is provided at its upper end with a head 48 which isturnably supported in the socket 43. The socket 43 may be provided withantifriction bearing means 49 for supporting the head 48 therein.

A pair of corresponding clamp sections 50 have upper ends straddling thelower end of the hanger rod 46 and connected thereto as by means of arivet 51. Outwardly offset intermediate portions of the clamp sections50 engage around a motor casing 52 and the lower free ends of the clampsections 50 are detachably and adjustably connected by a nut and boltfastening 53 which is tightened for clamping the motor casing 52 betweenthe intermediate portions of the clamp sections 50. A fan or blower 54is fixed to a motor shaft 55 and 17, The door 21 is provid d 17, isdisposed against An eye 32 turnably engages a smooth.

is supported thereby normally in the rear opening 14 and outwardly ofand adjacent the rear door 27. The rod member 37 has a restrictedthreaded rear end 56 on which a nut 57 is detachably mounted, of largerdiameter than the rod 37 and which forms a stop to limit slidingmovement of the slide 41 rearwardly on the rod 37.

Bracket members 58 are secured in the casing 12 horizontally between theupper cooling unit chamber and the lower refrigerating chamber forsupporting a drip pan 59 beneath the cooling unit 28. A drain pipe 60has an upper end connected to and communicating with the interior of thepan 59, and an outwardly and downwardly ofiset opposite end 61, whichopens outwardly of a side of the lower refrigerator portion of thecasing. The upper end of the drain pipe 60 communicates with the pan 59by engaging around a drain nipple 62 thereof which depends from thedrain pan bottom, so thatthe drain pan can be removed without disturbingthe drain conduit.

During cool weather when the space cooling unit is not required, thedoors 16 are normally retained in a closed position for sealing theupper chamber of the casing 12. In order to enable the rear doors 16 tobe closed, the slide 41 is moved rearwardly to adjacent the stop 57 formoving the blower 54 a sufiicient distance rearwardly of the opening 14to enable the doors 16 to be closed and if desired, the hanger rod 46may be turned in the socket 43 to swing the blower 54 away from thecasing to facilitate closing of the doors 16. The front doors and theinner front door 21 may be opened to afford access to the refrigeratorcooling unit 28, or if desired said front door 21 may be removed fromthe frame 17 by disconnecting the sections of the hinges 22. During hotweather when it is desired to utilize the space cooling unit 10, thedoors 15 and 16 are swung to their fully open positions of Figures 1 and3 and the slide 41 is moved forwardly on the rod 37 and the hanger rod46 may be turned in the socket 43, if necessary, to position the fan orblower 54 in the rear opening 14 and adjacent the screen covered openingof the rear inner door 27. With the parts thus disposed, as illustratedin Figures 1 to 3, the motor 52 is operated or energized in aconventional manner, as is conventional in electric fan motors, to drivethe shaft 55 and the fan or blower 54. Rotation of the fan or blower 54will cause air to be drawn inwardly of the casing 12 through the rearwall opening 14 from an enclosure area adjacent the back of the casingand this air will be propelled through the mesh wire fabric of the innerrear door 27, around the cooling unit 28 and thence outwardly throughthe mesh wire fabric covered opening of the front door 21 and throughthe front casing opening 13 for cooling an enclosure or a portion of anenclosure in which the unit 10 is disposed. The air in passing aroundthe cooling unit 28 is cooled thereby, particularly by the frost whichaccumulates on such refrigerator units and in turn melts the frost. Apart of the moisture thus created is picked up by the air passingbetween the openings 14 and 13 while the majority of the melted frostdrains from the unit 28 into the pan 59 and from said pan through thedrain outlet 60. This drainage may be collected in any suitablereceptacle, not shown, disposed beneath the discharge end 61 of thedrain conduit and externally of the casing 12. While the unit 28 willeffectively cool the air passing through the casing between the openings14 and 13 when no frost is collected thereon, the space cooling unitwill utilize the frost as a cooling means and which otherwise reducesthe effectiveness of the cooling unit in chilling the refrigerationchamber 11, so that the space cooling unit 10 functions as a defrosterfor the cooling unit 28 in addition to utilizing any frost thereon forchilling the air passing through the upper portion of the casing 12.

It will thus be apparent that a dual purpose type of refrigerator hasbeen provided which may be utilized not only for maintaining foods in achilled condition but which may be additionally employed effectively asa space cooling unit for one or more rooms of an enclosure, such as adwelling, in or adjacent which the casing 12 is disposed and in being soemployed will additionally function as a defroster of the refrigeratorcooling unit. Further, the front and rear doors 15 and 16 may be readilyclosed when the cooling unit is not being employed and after the fan orblower 54 has been displaced rearwardly of the casing 12 by movement ofthe slide 41 on the supporting rod 37. The rod 37 may be swung from itscentered .position of Figure 3 to conveniently position the fan 52, 54behind and to either side of the casing 12 and the rod 46 may be turnedrelatively to the slide 41 for facing the fan in any direction so thatit may be used in a conventional manner while disposed externally of thecasing 12 and while the doors 15 and 16 are closed.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the inventionas hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A combination refrigerator and space cooler comprising an insulatedcasing defining a bottom refrigerator chamber and an upper space coolerchamber communicating with the bottom chamber, a refrigerating unitdisposed in said upper casing chamber for cooling both of said chambers,said casing having from and rear walls provided with aligned openingscommunicating with sai? upper chamber and between which saidrefrigerating un t is disposed, closure means for closing or exposingsaid aligned openings; a supporting rod disposed above and supported onthe casing and extending rearwardly therefrom, a slide reciprocablymounted on said rod, a hanger member suspended from said slide, a drivenfan including a motor casing connected to said hanger member andsupported thereby in a normal position for sliding movement with thehanger member and slidable on the supporting rod rearwardly away fromthe casing or forwardly for positioning the fan in the rear wall openingof the casing when the closure means thereof is in an open position andwhereby operation of the fan will draw air through the rear casingopening and will propel the air around said refrigerating unit to becooled thereby and outwardly through the front wall opening of thecasing when the closure means thereof is in an open position for coolingthe space around and adjacent the refrigerator and for defrosting therefrigerating unit.

2. A combination refrigerator and space cooler as in claim 1, saidsupporting rod being swingably mounted for swinging movement in ahorizontal plane for displacing the fan toward either side of the casingwhen said fan is in a retracted position out of engagement with the rearWall opening.

3. A combination refrigerator and space cooler as in claim 1, meanspivotally connecting said rod to the casing at the forward end of saidrod and above and adjacent the front of the casing for swinging movementof the rod in substantially a horizontal plane, guide means supported onthe casing adjacent its rear wall and in which an intermediate portionof said supporting rod is swingably supported, said gulde means havingend por-' tions forming abutments for limiting swinging movement of thesupporting rod.

4. A combination refrigerator and space cooler comprising an insulatedcasing defining a bottom refrigerator chamber and an upper space coolerchamber communicating with said bottom chamber, a refrigerating unitdisposed in said upper chamber for cooling both chambers, said casinghaving front and rear walls provided with aligned openings in the spacecooling unit portion thereof and between which said refrigerating unitis disposed, closure means for closing or exposing said alignedopenings, a blower, and means supported by the casing and movablysupporting the blower in either an operative position in the rear wallopening or in an inoperative position behind the casing and so disposedthat the closure means of the rear wall opening may be moved to and fromfully opened and closed positions.

5. A combination refrigerator and space cooler as in claim 4, saidblower being swivelly suspended by said means and swingably and slidablysupported thereby for swinging movement in substantially a horizontalplane and for sliding movement toward and away from the rear wall of thecasing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Numberlflame Date 676,950 Hawkins June 25, 1901 1,891,167 Lockwood Dec. 13,1932 2,046,009 Wiezevich June 30, 1936 2,120,830 Brizzolara June 14,1938 2,124,268 Williams July 19, 1938 2,249,772 Maniscalco July 22, 19412,610,349 Moore Sept. l6, 1952

